As Long As You Have Us
by livdunham
Summary: Jane and Weller are caught up in the life of a defenseless little girl that soon will change their lives forever. How much can they learn from each other by getting to love somebody else?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I hope you enjoy this, I hope it turns to be, a cute story about growing up as individual, partner and moving on from the bad things that happen in life.

* * *

 **CHAPTER I**

They had received the call a few days back, right in the middle of a case. Lucky for Weller, he didn't have to make the decisions anymore, otherwise he would've lost his objectivity and had chosen to put all of his team's efforts in this new problem.

Reade called them all to his office, and scrutinized Kurt's face for a few seconds while the rest filled the room. He could tell the man was conflicted, cases that involved kidnapped kids were tough for him due to the lack of control he had over the situation, but as the Assistant Director, Reade had assess the situation from the little information he had in order to lead his team into the right direction.

"I sent a team to take care of the case we were investigating. New York police asked for us to assist in this massive kidnapping" Reade informed in a cautious tone.

"Massive?" Patterson was the first to speak for all of them. A massive kidnapping was very tricky.

"The children are held captive in-"

Weller stopped listening to the details, as far as it concerned him, several children were held hostages until their parents paid the ransom and that's all he needed to know, his mind started to buzz with memories and tactical plans to get them back all safe.

From the other side of the room, Jane stared at her husband in silence, hands sweating for the pain his blank expression didn't display, but she could perfectly recognize the way he pursed his lips when he was holding his emotions back. He had his demons, the ones that kept him shaking in cold sweat in Jane's arms at night when things were tough at work; before their marriage, his nightmares featured lost children, some of them had Jane's eyes, which made everything worse, but he would always wake up in her arms, feeling her heart beating in her chest, reassuring him, whispering that everything would be okay. So Jane could imagine what he was thinking as Reade briefed them all and prayed for her husband's demons to stay at bay.

Weller drove in silence, his eyes fixed on the wet road, pressing the gas pedal with fury.

"Kurt" Jane's soft voice brought him back. "You're speeding"

"Sorry" He apologized, his jaw clenched. He wanted to get there as fast as his SUV could take him, he knew that when it came to kidnappings, each second mattered, especially when they had no information on the wellbeing of the children.

Jane couldn't shake the memories of the orphanage from her mind, it hurt every time she thought about the precarious conditions the kids were kept in, but she had learned to move on, she had managed to escape those crowded and filthy rooms in her dreams, all the heartache she now felt was for her husband.

"They're gonna be ok" She whispered, studying his expression

"What if we're too late?" His voice sounded distressed and nonchalantly.

"We won't, we'll get them all back" Jane affirmed.

"How do you know?" Kurt looked at her in silence. She could tell he was holding back the tears of frustration, trying to manage the anxiety.

"I just know" Jane put her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

The place was worse than they had imagined. The abandoned warehouse was once a condemned building for danger of collapse. A few feet away there was a filthy river that probably was used as a sewer from any waste that came from the inhabitants of the building.

"Okay guys" Patterson's voice broke through the comms. "I'm looking at the layout and it's not good. The whole place is a maze and you'll need backup."

"We can't wait for them" Weller snapped.

"It's too risky" Added Reade in a firm tone eyeing Weller.

"We need to go now, every time we waste, we put the kids at risk" Weller's tone was defiant but stood at bay by looking down.

"Okay, Patterson, is there a way you can guide us through the place?" Jane intervened before they lost more time arguing with each other.

"Yes, give me a second"

"We don't have one"

"Kurt" Jane mumbled.

Weller held Jane's gaze for a while and then looked away. He was being irrational, letting his temper overpower him and he knew it.

"Okay, I got it, please stay alert" Patterson guided the team through musty and thin corridors, they made even the bravest person on earth feel a little claustrophobic. There was no way a scared kid could make it out on its own, it was too dark and there were too many turns to get lost and never be able to find the exit.

They moved as quickly as possible, trying to stay away from the fragile walls and putting special attention to the floor that had broken glass here and there.

"Isn't it strange that we haven't encountered anyone yet?" Weller asked in a whisper.

"They must be inside with the kids" Zapata replied from the back.

Reade stopped in front of a rotten door and blasted it open with his body.

The first shot came as soon as Reade hit the ground. Using their thermal lenses, the team was able to distinguish between the kids and the assailants in the middle of the chaos inside of the dark room.

Jane and Zapata barricaded themselves behind a bed while Reade took down one of the suspects who held a little boy as human shield. All of the sudden, the place was filled by several flashes that came from Weller's rifle, he was shooting at a dead body, letting all of his anger and frustration out before stopping when there were no more bullets to fill the body with.

"Jane, how many kids have you counted?" Zapata approached with a tablet in her hand, her eyes stuck on the screen.

"Nine"

"There should be eleven" It was just then when Zapata scanned the room with her eyes trying to hold back the tears. The room was big enough to comfortably fit a hundred people, each on its own bed, but there were only four beds for eleven kids and none of them had a decent mattress. "I want to leave this place as soon as I can"

"Found him" Reade approached with a scared and malnourish boy on his arms.

"That still leaves one kid missing" Weller pointed, eyes sweeping the place.

Jane turned to Zapata and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You two go, Weller and I'll take care of this"

At plain sight the room seemed empty. An FBI squad had walked through the remaining corridors in search for any other loose kid or kidnapper but couldn't find anything, which meant that the remaining child was still there with them, somewhere.

Jane realized there was a small vent next to one of the guard's desk and walked towards the wall following a strong instinct.

"Jane?" Weller followed Jane across the room and saw her take the lid off the vent just to find a scared little girl with her face strained in tears.

"Hey" Jane greeted her in a sweet voice. The girl looked at her and backed off, pouting at the strangers. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you" Jane sat on the floor and smiled, offering her hand to the girl. It took them at least ten minutes before the girl crawled her way out of the vent and threw herself into Jane's arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER II**

The corridor was dark and cold, she could see her own breath in the air, in some spots the walls were covered in scratches; a shiver went down her spine. The man opened the door only to reveal an even worse room: small, no bed, no windows and threw them inside saying something she didn't get before he locked the door from the outside.

A small hand held hers and she clung onto her brother's body, trying to keep the both of them warm, promising him they would get out of there.

Jane woke up in the middle of the night to an empty bed. The sheets next to her were cold and Weller was nowhere to be found in the room. Taking his shirt from the bed, she walked out of the room to find him in front of the window with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

Jane wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his back, listening to his even breathing. He had had a nightmare again, it had been like this for three days; the night before, Jane woke up to a shaking Weller who was staring at her in silence, his body cold as ice and with his mind thousands of miles away from there. She had had nightmares too, the same corridor, the same room, but the dream ended differently every time, that was when she would usually wake up, looking for Weller's arm in the dark.

"I'll be okay" Weller said quietly, caressing Jane's hand with his finger, turning to cup her head in his hand and kiss her gently on the lips.

"I know" She trailed the line of his jaw with the back of her hand avoiding his eyes, fighting back the tears.

"What?"

"I was just thinking…" She changed the subject. "That I can't stop thinking about that little girl, the one from the vent"

"What about her?" He frowned.

"Have they found her parents yet?" Weller shook his head in denial. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been thinking a lot about that little girl lately, especially after the fact that she had hidden herself in that place to avoid whatever that was happening in the room. It made him wonder if she had previously done that and under what kind of circumstances.

"I might go see her at the hospital tomorrow" Jane whispered, kissing Weller's chest.

"Jane…" He lifted Jane's head by her chin, making her look at him. "Don't"

"It's a lonely kid, Kurt. She's what? Three years old? She was scared and I bet she still is. All of the other kids found their parents but she's still waiting."

Weller kissed her forehead in silence and led her back to the room. Jane let Weller's arms wrap around her protectively and fell asleep thinking about lost children and the way the girl she rescued cried while trying to reach out for Jane when a police officer took her away.

The morning filled the room with a dim light. Jane and Weller had a silent breakfast before heading to the car. The raid in that warehouse changed something in them, it was palpable to anyone who knew them well but neither Jane nor Weller had said a word about it, they were still trying to come to a term with their feelings. It had nothing to do with the other, it just was that the both of them had a past that sometimes would come afloat, besides, it wasn't usual for their department to deal with kidnappings that involved children.

"Why didn't you turn?" Weller's little detour didn't go unnoticed by Jane.

"Because I'm taking you to the hospital"

"But you said-"

"I know, I'm still against it, but I can't stop you. You'll show up there anyway" Jane smiled at her husband.

Jane's confidence wore off with every step she took towards the reception. She had no information about the girl, she didn't know what her name was, just like her when she first arrived to the FBI. She wondered if they had logged her under Jane Doe.

A nurse took Jane through hallways and elevators while asking some mundane questions about the girl, to which Jane simply replied that she couldn't share information about an ongoing case although it stopped being an FBI case the moment they rescued the children.

The pediatric wing lifted Jane's spirits, it was a bright and warmer side of the hospital and some kids did their morning walk with some cheerful nurses, a welcomed contrast against the little girl's previous stance.

"There she is, bed five" The nurse indicated with a smile and left Jane alone.

The girl was sitting on the bed looking at other kids play on their beds. She was so tiny it seemed as if she was sitting at a giant's bed. She had bandages in her feet and hands and an IV tube came out from her thin arm. Jane approached cautiously and stopped next to the girl's bed.

"Hey" Jane noticed a warmth feeling that took away all of her anxiety for the meeting. The girl was doing much better, she wasn't scared to death anymore; she apparently had a shy demeanor and an obvious PTSD from her previous circumstances.

The girl looked up at Jane with some recognition in her eyes, however, her eyes filled with tears while hiding her face behind her tiny hands.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you, sweetie"

"She does that with strangers" A nurse approached Jane with a file in her hand.

"She has had a couple of rough days. Can you fill me in about her condition?" The nurse gave Jane a disapproval look and her eyes stopped in her bird tattoo. "I'm FBI." She showed her ID "My partner and I found her hiding inside of a vent"

Jane caught the girl looking at her intently, as if she could understand every word she was saying to the nurse. Maybe she remembered her from that day? She shook away that idea, it was too dark and she was too scared to remember, even if she cried after she got separated from Jane.

"She was admitted with hypothermia and multiple superficial lacerations in her hands and feet, probably made by some sharp objects. She was given a tetanus shot and some fluids to help her gain more weight."

"Do you have a name?"

"No, she hasn't said a word since she was brought in. The social worker came by but there was no record of her in any orphanage and the police said she wasn't found in any missing kids' database"

"Is the social working taking her anywhere?" Panic was evident in Jane's voice. By her experience, orphanages weren't a good place for kids, and there was something about this little girl that awoke a protective instinct inside of her.

"When she's discharged, yes. In about a week or so, depending on how much weight she gains"

"Thanks" The nurse walked away, leaving Jane and the girl alone again.

Jane sat on the chair next to the bed with her hands in her pockets, and smiled when she felt something hard inside. The girl caught Jane's smile and looked at her curiously.

"Do you want to see what I have in my pocket?" The girl doubted for a while and then nodded. Jane took her hand out of the pocket in a fist and stretched her arm. "You'll have to touch my hand for it to open. It's magic"

The girl doubted again but the curiosity was evident in her big green eyes. Slowly, she stretched her tiny arm and touched Jane's hand, looking at Jane's eyes through her long dark lashes.

Jane opened her hand and showed the colorful paper to the girl, who gave her a shy smile and took the candy from Jane's hand.

"Candy" The girl giggled in a baby tone.

Weller looked at his wife leaning against the door. She knew about Jane's big heart and he had seen her around Bethany to know she had a thing for kids, but seeing her exchanging that moment with a lonely shy girl warmed his heart and made him fall even more in love with Jane Doe.


End file.
